Hand Made-n's is a crafty collaboration of Australian ladies, come together to share our knowledge and our passion for all things handmade.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Nilmerg - Contributing blogger bio

Hi my name is Elaine, or as many in the virtual world know me, Nilmerg! I live at the northern end of the Kosciusko National park, in NSW, Australia. I have 2 great kids, both girls ages 2 and 4 and a hard working husband. I’m a stay at home Mum and while I don’t officially work, I sell my hand crafted products under the business name Apple Valley Creations. It’s a far cry for someone who grew up in South West Scotland and has a degree in Archaeology(that really was a career in Ruins!). But I love living in Australia and enjoy the better quality of life that my family can enjoy.

I have been sewing since I was about 4 or 5. Here is my first ever project (yes I still have it in my possession, even though I’ve emigrated!) I don’t remember who came up with the design, me or my Mum. But I do remember my Mum having to unpick some of it after I had sewn it to my
school skirt!

My next projects were counted cross stitch, mostly country companions and other cute images until I did my daughters birth samplers in 2007 and 2009. I thought that they were quite Epic, but my current cross stitch is really EPIC – it’s a Selina Fenech image by Heaven and Earth Designs – Caelia. It is such a huge piece that it will certainly be an heirloom piece – either the finished project or more likely the unfinished project!

I started quilting in 2007 shortly before the arrival of my first child. Of course it was a baby quilt. Yellow because I didn’t know if I was having a boy or a girl! It was a 9-patch and is a very good pattern to learn with. I did a few weeks of quilting lessons at my local quilt shop before setting out on my own. But I think my favourite quilt I've done is this one - my second quilt. This is when I learned applique. Since then I’ve completed a king sized double 9-patch quilt, 2 personalised lap quilts for my daughters, a mini art quilt, many cushion covers and am currently working on a single quilt for my nephew and a scrabble board cushion cover for my older brother. While quilting isn’t something that I do on a regular basis, it has taught me some valuable lessons about sewing, including how to use a sewing machine; a skill that I had failed to aquire at school, much to my home economics teacher’s disgust! I didn’t even manage the apron project!

I’ve recently picked up inchie making. I’m not even sure that this is an art form, but the people on craftster are crazy for them! There is something strangely therapeutic about decorating a 1” square piece of paper! And it is amazing what you can do with them. Here is a project that I recently completed. It contains inchies that I have made and hundreds of inchies made by others from all around the world.

So that’s me, I’m looking forward to writing some contributions to this blog. I love to cook so maybe there will be some recipes in there too. As a person who is always busy and never empty handed, I hope that I can pass on some knowledge and inspiration to you.

Just for fun...
Vegemite or Peanut Butter: Has to be Peanut butter

Summer, Autumn, Winter or Spring: Spring

Cats or Dogs: Sorry, but neither, I'm not a pet person, but if I had to have one, it would be a cat.

Pen or Pencil: Pen

If I were a doll, the accessories would be: Sun glasses, Cross strap backpack, embroidery hoops, threads and 2 kids in tow!